


Just a Kid

by JLMonroe1234



Category: Avengers, Iron Man - Fandom, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tony Stark - Fandom, peter parker - Fandom
Genre: Captain America - Freeform, Hurt Peter Parker, Iron Man - Freeform, Marvel - Freeform, Marvel Cinematic Universe - Freeform, Other, Peter Parker - Freeform, Spider-Man - Freeform, may parker - Freeform, peter parker/tony stark - Freeform, spiderman - Freeform, steve rogers - Freeform, tony stark - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-19 05:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13697811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JLMonroe1234/pseuds/JLMonroe1234
Summary: Peter’s still figuring things out. That includes his own abilities.Tony’s still figuring things out. That includes figuring out how to deal with the kid he never thought he’d care about so much.May is still figuring things out. That includes learning how to understand her superpowered son.





	Just a Kid

**Author's Note:**

> This is trash. My bad.
> 
> Should I make this a sort of series of short stories?

Peter wasn’t sure what exactly set it off. Today was not unlike any other day; he woke up in the bottom bed of his bunk, his comforter wrapped around his ankles because he’d more than likely kicked it off at some point during the night. He’d fallen asleep studying. His bedroom light was on, History textbook left open and teetering dangerously on the edge of the mattress.

But before Peter noticed any of these things, he noticed his pounding headache. His brain seemed to have developed a heart of its own, pulsing every second. 

“Oh my...Jesus.” The room was too bright. Way too bright. The sunlight coming through his window. The overhead lamp. “Too much. It’s all...ah man…”

He abruptly shot up from his bed and pulled the curtains shut. What he didn’t think about was the fact that the metal rings holding the curtain on the rod would make such a racket when they grinded against one another. 

“Shit!” Peter slapped his palms over his ears and collapsed to the floor. That relentless pulsing in his head strengthened. 

Dust particles swirled in the air, and Peter could see each one. He could swear he heard Mrs.Delgado cooing to her cat upstairs in D13. One of his other neighbors had their tv on last night’s Giants game with the volume turned up full-blast. Someone a few streets away was walking a particularly yappy dog. 

“Where is it? Where-what did I do with it?”

Peter didn’t actually speak, fearing the sound of his own voice would add to his agony. He just mouthed the words and crawled around his room in search of his mask. He could have sworn he’d thrown it on his desk last night after he got in, but after forcing himself to his knees in order to swipe his arm over the wooden surface, the mask was nowhere to be found. May must have come in and nabbed it along with the suit before he woke up. Ever since Mr.Stark assured her it was 100% water-proof (Peter figured that out after falling in a lake last year,) she’d been insistent on washing it almost every day. “Nobody wants to be rescued by a hero wreaking of body odor,” she’d say when Peter complained about it. 

Right now he especially resented Aunt May for being so caring; Peter was hoping Tony had installed vision and audio toning devices within the mask that would have helped. If the suit had a parachute, why wouldn’t the mask have sound mufflers? It didn’t seem like that much of a stretch.

But without his mask or a clear mind, Peter remained on the floor with his eyes squeezed shut so tight that tears ran down his cheeks. He slapped the palms of his hands over his ears, and simply hoped he’d pass out. 

 

“The absolutely fabulous and dazzling Tony Stark, here, how can I direct your call?”

The line was quiet for several seconds before a worried voice began speaking. “Yes, Mr.Stark, this is May Parker.”

Of course Tony had known that. Caller ID was a beautiful thing. But May sounded genuinely worried and Tony didn’t feel that judgement would go over very well at the moment. “Ah, May. How are you? How’s the kid?”

“That’s actually why I’m calling. I’m sorry to bother you, I just didn’t know who else to call, and I know you’re a smart guy and you may know what’s going on-“

“Slow down, May. It’s alright, you’re not bothering me.” He’d actually been about to enter a rather important company board meeting, but lord knew he’d do anything to get out of those. “You said I may know what’s going on? What’s going on with what?” 

“It’s Peter. I walked into his room this morning and he was laying on the floor with his hands over his ears. I tried getting him up but he won’t budge.” 

“Did he come home hurt last night? You gotta remember that your boy is basically nocturnal.” 

May gave a sad, nervous chuckle. “You think I didn’t check? I waited up for him. He was exhausted but didn’t have any injuries as far as I could see.” 

Tony was silent for a moment, deciding if what he was about to say would be crossing a line. He knew the kid, but maybe not well enough to question his mental health. “Is there any way this could be purely psychological?”

“No, no. I’ve been with him when that sort of thing was happ- When he- when…” May coughed. “No. This isn’t that. I would know.” 

Through the glass walls, Tony could see Stark Industries’ board members taking their places around the conference room’s round table. Some were giving him odd looks, like they were thinking “Is he coming to this meeting or not? This is his company, after all.” 

“Give me 10 minutes.”

“Oh, thank you so much, Mr. Stark. It means a lot.” 

“Call me Tony, please.” Slipping his phone back into his pocket, he whispered a few words to Happy, then turned around and walked away from the conference room. 

Tony, not feeling like driving, hailed a cab and slid into the back seat. The second he inhaled the scent of cigarettes and stale coffee, he realized he should have just called himself a car. 

Stark was a bit surprised with himself. Sure, he cares about Peter Parker. A lot, actually. If something were to happen to the kid he doesn’t know what he’d do. But ditching a board meeting because Peter was feeling under the weather was a new thing for him. He didn’t know how he felt about it. 

“We’re here,” the cabbie hollered from the front seat. When Tony didn’t move he repeated himself. “Dude! We’re here! That’ll be $15.00.”

As Tony was getting out of the car he bent next to the passenger side window, which the driver had opened at some point during their journey. “Do you think you could wait here? I’ll just be a minute.” 

The driver scoffed. “Nope.” He hit the gas and was gone in a matter of seconds. 

Tony stood on the sidewalk a bit flabbergasted. “Well, okay then.” 

He only had to knock once before May threw open the door. She flinched when the hinges creaked and Peter groaned from his room. 

“He’s been like this since I found him,” May said gently, stepping back so Tony could enter the apartment. “Any noise louder than a whisper sets him off. And he won’t open his eyes.” 

Tony simply nodded and gently followed May to Peter’s room. When they got there, he realized he was glad he came, board meeting be damned. The kid was in bad, bad shape. 

His face was paler than Tony had ever seen it. The circles under his eyes were a deep plum and despite being clamped over his ears, his hands were shaking. 

“Hey, kid.” Tony sat as gently as possible on the floor next to Peter, who was curled in a tight ball. “Tell me what’s going on.” 

Peter didn’t reply for several seconds. His eyes were moving rapidly beneath their lids. He opened and closed his mouth a few times as if he was trying to gather the strength to speak. 

“They’re at eleven.” Peter finally whispered between pursed lips. His words were barely audible.

“‘They’re at eleven?’ What the hell does that mean?” May asked worriedly. Peter cringed. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll shut up.” 

Tony processed his words. He thought back to the first conversation him and the kid had. It took place in this very room. 

“When whatever happened, happened, it’s like my senses were dialed to eleven.” 

“Oh god, kid. That’s what’s going on?”

May looked confused. “What? What is it?” 

Stark kept his eyes on Peter. “Your boy here has, let us say, heightened senses. Like, to the extreme. Right now they’re in overdrive. Everything is too bright, too detailed. He can probably hear almost everything within a five mile radius.”

“S-six mile radius. I can hear the t-toaster oven beeping at Johnny’s Deli, and it’s two train rides away.” 

Tony finally tore his eyes away from Pete and turned them on his aunt. “Sensory overload. Poor kid can’t process all of this at once. It’s driving him crazy.” 

Mays hands covered her mouth. “How do we help him?” 

“You got his mask?”

She thought for a second, nodded a few times, and scurried out of the room as quickly as possible. She was back a few seconds later with the mask in her hands.   
“I’m sorry, it’s a little damp. It was in the washer.”

“Better than nothing,” Tony whispered. “Okay son. I’m gonna have you put the mask on, okay? You gotta put your hands down.” 

Peter shook his head. 

“Please, kid. I’m trying to help.”

Slowly, Peter removed his hands. He began groaning the second he did though. It was an agonizing sound and made Tony’s chest tighten.

“Okay. Here we go.” Stark slipped the mask on as quickly as possible. “Karen. Activate sensory deprivation mode.” 

“Sure thing, sir,” Karen said gently from the mask, as if she knew how much pain Peter was in and was adamant on not making it worse. 

As soon as she said it, Peter visibly relaxed. His hands fell slack and he uncurled his legs from his chest. The eye slits on his mask were completely closed. 

“Thank you,” he said aloud. He didn’t speak again. 

“He’s not dead,” May said quietly, chuckling at the terrified look that had made its way onto Tony’s face. “You see the little twitch his foot is doing? He does that when he’s asleep.” 

“Thank god. I thought I killed the kid.” 

“No, no. You helped him. A lot, apparently.” 

Both adults simply sat in silence for a few moments. Tony was eyeing the steady up-and-down movement of Peter’s chest as he took deep breaths. May was biting her thumb nail. 

“Nasty habit to have,” Tony joked. 

“I’m just...Why does this happen? Why was he hurting so much?”

Tony shook his head. “To be totally honest with you, Ms.Parker, I’m not sure. Did the kid ever really explain to you what happened to him?”

“He said something about a spider on a field trip he went on. Said it bit him and this just sort of happened.” 

“That’s the truth, just not all of it.” 

May raised a questioning eyebrow. Tony really didn’t know if he should have said anything. The true nature of Peter’s physical capabilities would probably freak her out, as they would any parent.

“The spider that bit him was part of an Oscorp experiment.” 

“Yea, that’s where he said it happened.” 

“But it’s not just an ordinary Spider. From what I understand…” Too late to turn back, Tony reminded himself, “It had been exposed to a fair amount of radioactivity.” 

May involuntarily squealed and Peter shuffled in his sleep. 

“Radioactivity? Are you kidding me? I mean, obviously I’m glad he’s okay, b-but how is he not dead?”

“To be honest, I’m really not sure. Something in his genetic makeup saved him. But while it saved him, it gave him, say, a unique set of abilities.” 

“Like what?”

“Well, like you’ve witnessed today, heightened sight and hearing, and I have to assume the same goes for the rest of his senses.” 

“What about the walls? I always see him climbing those damn walls on tv...And it gives me a stroke every time I see it...But how do you think he does that?” 

“That’s something he hasn’t told me,” Tony said with a frown. “Of course, I have my own theories-“

“This is all too much. There’s so much I don’t know about him. My own kid, and I don’t know these things.” 

May looked genuinely worried. It warmed Stark’s heart to see how much she truly loved the kid. “I’d assume he doesn’t even know everything he’s capable of. From the case files I’ve studied, the experiment the spider came from was unfinished. They hadn’t even reached the human testing stage.”

The second he’d said it, he regretted it. Telling someone their child had been exposed to untested, unpredictable, radioactive science was definitely not one of the smartest things he’d done. If Peter hadn’t told May about it in the first place, it was probably because he knew how she’d react. 

The look on May’s face w would have been almost comical if Tony hadn’t been so guilt-ridden. He’d probably just put the fear of God into her.

“You’re telling me,” May whispered, so quiet that Tony strained to hear her, “That my baby was bitten by a spider not yet tested with humans, and Oscorp didn’t even have the damn decency to call me?”

The fury in May’s eyes was terrifying. Tony never wanted to be the one between her and Peter’s safety; he’d probably end up shredded and discarded in a remote location. 

“That’s IT!” May shouted. Peter mumbled something under the mask and flipped over in his sleep. “I’m calling those bastards and giving them a piece of my mind!”

By the time May had her phone out of her pocket, Tony had his hand wrapped around her wrist. “Not a great idea, Ms.P. First of all, your chances at actually getting to speak to someone worthwhile are slim to none. Second, calling and asking questions would require you to explain why exactly you’re asking these questions. You’d have to tell them what happened to Peter. His identity would slip out sooner or later. If you want to keep this kid safe, you have to let him figure all of this out for himself.” 

There was still hell in her eyes, but May physically relaxed. “Helping him through all of this is my job. He shouldn’t have to figure these things out for himself.” She paused for a moment, her eyes resting on Peter’s sleeping form on the floor. “He’s just a kid.”

Tony sighed. “I know.” He let May’s wrist fall out of his hand, grabbed a blanket from Peter’s bed, and gently draped it over him. Peter instinctually wrapped the comforter in his fists and pulled it up under his chin. “God, I know.”


End file.
